A Harvard law professor who was named alongside Prince Andrew in his 'sex slave' case is suing for defamation - and he's urged the royal to also take legal action.

Alan Dershowitz, who was part of O.J. Simpson's 'dream team', was named in court documents by a woman who says she was forced to have sex with friends of U.S. billionaire and convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, including Prince Andrew.

The woman, identified as Virginia Roberts, was just 17 at the time, making her a minor.

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Anger: Alan Dershowitz, seen above speaking on the Today show, is suing the two lawyers representing Virginia Roberts for defamation claiming they knew her allegations were false when they filed them

Dershowitz is not currently a target of the latest proceedings but is seeking to intervene in order to defend himself. Buckingham Palace officials have denied the allegations against Prince Andrew.

Dershowitz, 76, has denied he ever had sex with Roberts and has vowed to seek the disbarment of two lawyers representing her, Paul Casell and Bradley Edwards. He claims the lawyers knew the charges were false when they filed them.

The professor yesterday filed defamation suits in both London and the U.S. based on the lawyers' public statements about the case and he urged Prince Andrew to do the same.

Dershowitz, a Harvard University professor emeritus, represented Epstein against sex crime charges, for which he served a 13-month sentence after pleading guilty in 2008.

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Dershowitz plans to file complaints with Cassell's and Edwards' respective states' disciplinary boards asking that they be disbarred.

The boards would then decide whether to open an investigation and whether to bring charges.

Edwards and Cassell said in a joint statement that they had carefully investigated all of the allegations in their pleadings before presenting them.

They also said they had tried to depose Dershowitz and that he had refused, which Dershowitz called a 'total lie.' He said he received only one deposition request from the two lawyers five years ago, asking about his relationship with Epstein - and that it said nothing about any of the new allegations.

Several law professors specialising in legal ethics said that even if Dershowitz could prove the allegations were false, that was unlikely to get the two attorneys disbarred.

The case could fail because attorneys are advocates for their clients, not arbiters of fact, so they are entitled to believe their clients, experts said.

Amy Mashburn, a professor at the University of Florida's Levin College of Law said: 'The statement by the victim that it happened, without a strong reason to question it, would be sufficient.'

Stephen Gillers, a professor at NYU School of Law said: 'Being false alone is not enough.

'What a disciplinary committee would have to show is that they either knew the allegations were false, or they were reckless in making the charge.'

Mr Gillers said there was no firm standard for what it meant to be reckless. While attorneys have an obligation to investigate allegations before making them, such an investigation need not be as thorough as the fact-finding that later happens in court, he said.

Cassell and Edwards would be more likely to face punishment if a disciplinary board concluded that they knowingly lied. Ms Mashburn said that would be a very serious fraud that would be a breach of several ethical rules.

Even then, she said, they might only face suspension.

One obstacle for Dershowitz, according to Ms Mashburn, is that lawyers are often disbarred for multiple offenses.

Support: Dershowitz's wife of 30 years, Carolyn, has said her husband 'is the least likely person in the entire world that this would be true of'. They are pictured with their daughter Ella, center

Cassell, who served as a deputy attorney general under President Ronald Reagan, has no record of public discipline since he was admitted to the bar in 1992, according to a spokeswoman for the Utah state bar. Edwards, who was admitted to the Florida bar in 2002, also has no public disciplinary history in the last 10 years. That's as far back as the Florida state bar keeps such records.

In 2008, Edwards filed a petition in the Florida court on behalf of women who say they were sexually abused by Epstein. The women say federal prosecutors violated their rights when they entered into a plea agreement with Epstein that allowed him to serve jail time on state charges, but avoid federal prosecution.

Edwards asked Cassell to join him early in the litigation.

Cassell, who left his post as federal judge in 2007, describes himself as an advocate for crime victims. He has championed the death penalty - and unsuccessfully pushed to overturn the 1966 Supreme Court decision requiring police to read detainees their rights.

Speaking on the Today show yesterday Dershowitz said the woman's claims against him are 'totally false and made up' and he is 'completely and absolutely' innocent.

He said: 'I don't even know who she is,' he said of the woman. 'I've never seen her. I've never met her. I don't know who she is.'

Dershowitz pointed out that the woman claims they had sex on Epstein's Caribbean Island and at his New Mexico ranch, but Dershowitz said he had only ever been there briefly with his wife and daughter and was 'never out of the sight of my wife'.

He added that the woman has also accused him of having sex with her while they were on Epstein's planes, but claims he was never on those flights.

Dershowitz called for the two men to be disbarred for their 'unethical' practice.

'They will rue the day they filed this,' he said. 'They will not get away with this. There will be legal proceedings. The truth will come out and... these two unethical attorneys will be disbarred.'

Questions: Prince Andrew is photographed with Virginia Roberts in 2001, left, and she is also pictured with her father, right, when she was seven. Roberts accused the prince and Dershowitz of having sex with her

Mr Cassell told DailyMail.com that he and Mr Edwards would not be responding to 'specific claims of indignation by anyone'.

'We have been informed of Mr Dershowitz's threats based on the factual allegations we have made in our recent filing,' he said in a statement.

'We carefully investigate all of the allegations in our pleadings before presenting them. We have also tried to depose Mr Dershowitz on these subjects, although he has avoided those deposition requests.

'Nevertheless, we would be pleased to consider any sworn testimony and documentary evidence Mr Dershowitz would like to provide which he contends would refute any of our allegations.'

I don't even know who she is. I've never seen her. I've never met her

Alan Dershowitz

He added that attorney Jack Scarola, who is handling related litigation, has invited Dershowitz to provide sworn testimony and any evidence - including his passport travel pages and photographs of him at Epstein's properties - relating to his part in the suit by January 19.

Cassell added: 'We intend only to litigate the relevant issues in Court and not to play into any sideshow. We feel that is in our clients' best interest and consequently that is what we are doing.'

Also on Monday, Dershowitz's wife of 30 years, Carolyn, came to his defense and denied that they had ever met Roberts.

'Anyone that knows us would find it laughable if it weren't so serious,' she told Inside Edition. 'He is the least likely person in the entire world that this would be true of.'

She said that they had been to Epstein's island - but had no recollection of meeting the girl.

'She's totally unfamiliar to me,' she said. 'I was on that island with Alan. Our daughter was there. Our friends met us for dinner. We were together the whole time.'

Speaking to the Today show, Dershowitz added that he would welcome a full investigation into the woman's claims so that people see he had no part in it.

'I'm not trying to silence her,' he said. 'I challenged her to repeat the statement to the press so I can sue for her defamation... She has studiously refused to.'

Lawyers: Dershowitz slammed his accuser's lawyers, Brad Edwards (left) and Paul Cassell (right), for naming him in the lawsuit. He claims that they failed to carry out proper investigations - which they have denied

In an interview with BBC Radio 4 over the weekend, he also urged the Duke of York to fight back.

'You cannot allow these allegations to hang above you,' Dershowitz said in the interview.

'The first question you have to ask yourself when you are charged with a crime like this is, 'Is there any conceivable possibility you did it?' and if the answer to that is 'no', you have to fight back with every resource and ounce of energy available to you.'

The prince, who has cut short a vacation to travel back to the U.K., has issued a strongly-worded denial, with Buckingham Palace saying 'any suggestion of impropriety with underage minors is categorically untrue'.

The claim by the woman is part of a U.S. civil case she and three other women have made against the government for how it handled the case against Epstein, a former friend of the Duke.

The women claim the government violated victims' rights when it made the plea deal in 2008.

Epstein – who was suspected for decades of paying for sex with dozens of underage girls – was only ever convicted and jailed for 18 months on a single charge of soliciting paid sex with minors.

Her lawyers claim that Prince Andrew had lobbied the government over Epstein's case.

In court documents the woman accuses Epstein, the Prince and his friend the socialite Ghislaine Maxwell - the daughter of crooked tycoon Robert - of abusing her when she was underage.

She says she was told to 'give the prince whatever he demanded' by Epstein.

Old friends: Prince Andrew is pictured with former friend and convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein in 2011

The prince stayed friends with him despite his conviction and they were seen together in 2011 after Epstein's release from jail.

Her father, Sky Roberts, has also spoken out to say that Prince Andrew should be prosecuted if the claims were true. The suit, which is civil not criminal, has been filed against the government and not Prince Andrew so he does not face any penalties.

Over the weekend, police sources in the U.K. said that the Duke of York could face an investigation if Roberts makes a formal complaint against him.

Mr Roberts, 58, also claimed his daughter had been introduced to the Queen while visiting London with Epstein - but Buckingham Palace has denied the allegations.

'There is nothing to suggest the claim is true,' a spokesperson said. 'We have no record of such a meeting.'

In a newly-released statement, the alleged victim said she would continue to fight for justice.

'I am looking forward to vindicating my rights as an innocent victim and pursuing all available recourse,' she said.

'It appears that I am now being unjustly victimized again. These types of aggressive attacks on me are exactly the reason why sexual abuse victims typically remain silent and the reason why I did for a long time. That trend should change. I'm not going to be bullied back into silence.'